Blog Post

Welcoming folks to church is something that we, in the world of pastoral ministry, are rather passionate about. We want folks to find and explore faith, we want them to view the church as a refuge and a safe home, and a warm welcome goes a long way in helping to achieve those things. Thus it is that we teach folks how to welcome one another. Often, we try to model this welcome in our own lives. All the same, I wonder if we’ve given much thought, whether lay or ordained, as to what we mean when we “welcome” someone?

Last month I attended the United Church of Christ’s General Synod 2017. Synod was a powerful experience and all in all, a very moving and helpful time. At the same time, there were bits and pieces in this gathering that made me wonder about who and what we might welcome? Case in point: we as the UCC are a relatively to very progressive group of folks and our resolutions at General Synod reflected that progressive inclination. (And rightly and righteously so, I would say!) At the same time, there were occasionally thinly -and sometimes not at all -veiled swipes made at those to whom we made our resolutions in oppositions towards. That’s not to say that Synod was a hostile affair, it was quite the opposite really. Nonetheless, I came away with a perception that, were a certain president, members of congress, political commentators, etc, to visit our churches, our welcome to them would not be an entirely true or constructive one. I don’t think that I nor any of my peers wouldn’t welcome a person -conservative, progressive, whatever- into our worship, but I wonder if we’d do it with an agenda of sorts?

It’s no secret that the church universal has had humongous issues in including people who do not look, sound, act, love, smell, or live like “us.” This is something that “we” in the church have identified and struggled with for quite some time. In the UCC, I think we’ve mollified our consciences by saying that “extravagant welcome” was our way of saying that “all” were welcome. This is all well and good -and we certainly shouldn’t stop welcoming folks and embracing diversity- but I think there’s a toxicity that is often found in our welcome.

Very often, whether we acknowledge it or not, there is a temptation to welcome someone, so that we might begin to teach them to be like us. “Surely not,” you say? Think of it in this way: if Donald Trump showed up at your church this weekend, would you be able to say “I’m glad you are here, you are a child of God and your worth in that aspect alone makes you my brother and a welcome part of our service.” Or, would you perhaps be more tempted to offer a welcome and then begin to teach this man how to be a good progressive like yourself?

I think, if we’re honest, we know which option we’d be practicing…and which one, more often than not, gets practiced in our churches!

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that churches should not be places of transformation. In fact, I think churches are to be the equivalent of spiritual hospitals in this world; places where convalescing, change, and growth can and should happen. Though, that spiritual surgery is often better left to the “great physician,” than it is to you and I.

So, in sum, I guess I have to ask this: are we capable of simply welcoming people to our churches? Are we able to say, “I’m so glad you are here and I hope you feel loved” and then stop? Are we able to share our hearts and our care with others without trying to make them a bit more like us? (Perhaps even learning that we weren’t quite as right as we might have originally thought?) Can we equally welcome progressive, conservative, rich, poor, good, bad, and any other distinction? Or should we start making some clarifications on just who might be a good person to attend our churches?